Feb. 13, 2009
Auburn, Ala. - The Auburn softball team opened the first day of the Tiger Invitational with a 7-1 win over Eastern Kentucky and an 11-3 win over Missouri-Kansas City Friday afternoon at Jane B. Moore Field.
The Tigers return to action Saturday at 3 p.m. against Western Kentucky in their only game of the day.
Auburn improved to 8-1 with the two wins. Eastern Kentucky fell to 0-2, while UMKC dropped to 0-6.
In the second game vs. UMKC, Jenee Loree improved to 5-0 in throwing a complete game. Loree allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Samantha Hurst (0-2) allowed nine runs, seven earned, on 11 hits in 4.0 innings of work in taking the loss.
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first after taking advantage of three walks issued by Hurst. Myesha Finney walked to open the game and moved to second when Katie Colton walked behind her. After a fly out and a ground out, Elizabeth Eisterhold walked to load the bases.
Lauren Guzman singled through the left side to score Finney and Colton and give the Tigers a two-run lead.
Alexa Martinez pushed the lead to 3-0 for Auburn with a bloop single to center that scored Taryn Gray. Gray doubled to leadoff the bottom of the inning and moved to third on a balk.
UMKC took advantage of an Auburn error to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. Carli Slagle singled and moved to second on a sac bunt. After a ground out moved her to third, Kaele Curry hit a ground ball to Loree who threw to first. Martinez bobbled the throw at first, allowing Curry to reach and Slagle to score and cut the AU lead to 3-1.
Morgan Murphy increased the Auburn lead to 4-1 with a sharp single to center that scored Guzman in the top of the third. Guzman doubled with one out to get into scoring position. Lindsey Harrelson pinch-ran for Murphy and quickly stole second. The throw down was wild, however, and Harrelson advanced to third and came in to score on Gray's sac fly to center. The run gave Auburn a 5-1 lead.
Still in the third, Martinez walked and moved to third on Finney's two-out double to left. Colton followed with a single to center to score both runners and push the lead to 7-1.
The Tigers would take advantage of two UMKC errors in the fourth inning to plate two more runs and take a commanding 9-1 lead.
UMKC cut the deficit to 9-3 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Pinch-hitter Lauren Rodrigues singled home Rashonda Stanley and Megan Vicino with two outs.
The Tigers tacked on a run in the sixth when Murphy singled home Guzman for a 10-3 lead.
In the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs but could only push across one run on a wild pitch. Colton scored from third on the wild pitch to give Auburn the final 11-3 margin.
In game one, the Tigers used three home runs to score all their runs and cruise to a 7-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky.
Anna Thompson improved to 3-1 after allowing one run, earned, on four hits in a complete-game victory. Thompson fanned four and walked five in 7.0 innings of work. It was Thompson's 30th career victory.
Stacey Toups took the loss to fall to 0-1. Toups allowed five runs, all earned, on two hits in 1.2 innings of work.
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on Myesha Finney's two-out grand slam. It was Finney's third straight game with a home run and came with Amber Harrison (walk), Taryn Gray (walk) and Megan Mitchell (fielder's choice) aboard.
Kyndall White kept the inning going with a solo home run to left to push the Auburn lead to 5-0. The home run was White's second home run of the season.
The five runs was more than enough for Thompson. Through the first five innings, Thompson held Eastern Kentucky to just a pair of hits, with one in the first inning and one in the fifth.
Auburn added to its lead in the sixth when freshman Morgan Murphy's first swing of the bat this season resulted in a two-run home run to left. It was Murphy's first collegiate at-bat and was the third home run of the game for the Tigers.
Eastern Kentucky ended the Tigers' shutout bid in the seventh with a pair of doubles from Pam Weber and Jena Handley before Thompson got the final out to end the game at 7-1.